Apple's Siri savior Mike Rockwell may not get credit for new AI assistant

In a gossipy edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman details the backstage drama around Siri's revival. Mike Rockwell, who previously led the Apple Vision Pro project, is credited with finally fixing Siri after years of internal stalling. According to Gurman, Rockwell warned as early as 2016 that AI would be critical, but his advice went unheeded. He later gained credibility from the technically impressive (if commercially underwhelming) Vision Pro, and in a 2025 meeting of executives — including old AI chief John Giannandrea — Rockwell emerged as the strongest voice, effectively taking over Siri from Giannandrea, who retired nine months later.

Now, on the eve of WWDC 2026, rumors point to a dramatically upgraded Siri: it will be context-aware, drawing from personal data and what's on the screen, include a dedicated chatbot, and have a new look. This is powered by an LLM leased from Google — a deal Rockwell himself brokered. Yet Gurman reports Rockwell won't take the stage. Instead, Tim Cook will introduce Craig Federighi, who will show off the new assistant without Rockwell's input. Incoming CEO John Ternus — a longtime Vision Pro opponent — has effectively killed that product line, leaving Rockwell "weighing his future." Whether Rockwell gets proper credit or quietly exits is unclear, but the narrative fits a pattern of behind-the-scenes Apple heroes rarely getting their flowers.